Text 24397, 72 rader
Skriven 2008-12-02 11:18:41 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Attitudes
=================
Hello Robert,

On Monday December 01 2008 21:09, you wrote to me:

 MV>> Halloween is coming here too. A couple of weeks ago I got some
 MV>> kids at my doors that sang and begged for candy. For the first
 MV>> time in my life! Rosa tods me that in Amsterdam this has been
 MV>> going for a couple of years. I thought it was cute.. ;-)

 RB> The "trick or treat" part is, but the lawn decorations and halloween
 RB> parties really put me off.

The trick or treat part is all that we have here for Halloween. So far...

 RB> When the whole family was together, it was a wlnderful celebration - I
 RB> can still remember one Christmas at the family farm with my folks and
 RB> sister, my grandmother, my aunt and her friend, my great-uncle and
 RB> even my great-grandmother (who lived until I was 16). My dad played
 RB> Santa and handed out the presents.

These thing are nice.

Downside is that ever so often there is competion between the "in-laws"and the
"out-laws". Do we go to your parents on christmas day and to mine on boxing day
or the other way around? After a while I got so tired of it that I decreed , i
am not going anywhere. Everyone is welcome here at my house, but now it is my
turn, Xmas is celebrated *here*.

Rosa does not have children, so no problem there. But history is repeating with
her nephews. One of them won't  come to his mother's party, becuase the parents
of his girl friend invited them first...

 MV>> I played the role of "Sinterklaas" several times. ;-)

 RB> Never got to do that myself, but I'm not much good in the "Ho-Ho-Ho"
 RB> (Santa laugh) department.

"Sinterklaas" does not do "hoho". He sits in a chair and consults the "big
book". The "big book" contains records of all children. When the children have
behaved nicily during the past year, they get presents.

I the past children were told that if they had behaved badly, they would be
bagged and carried back to Spain. That part has been abolished. Considered too
cruel. The book remains, but the bag was dispensed with. Well, actually the bag
is still there, but it just serves to carry the presents.

 RB> Perhaps one of the reasons Germany follows the Halloween tradition is
 RB> that supposedly the "Walpurgisnacht" or witches' sabbeth took place in
 RB> the Harz mountains in the southeastern part of the country at the end
 RB> of October.

Many local traditions. We are seeing Muslim traditions seep into our culture
now as well...

 MV>> As for the getting out of had, yes there is that too here, but to
 MV>> a lesser extent. Christmas candy in october is unheard of, but
 MV>> that again has to do with Sinterklaas. Tradition has it that Santa
 MV>> Claus and Sinterklaas should not be seen together. Sinterklaas
 MV>> leaves on dec 6th by steam boat. The hour after he leaves the Xmas
 MV>> trees start to appear....

 RB> Sounds like a nice combination.

It is, but some peopl efeel it is getting out of hand as well. When  I was
young the Chrismas tree was not set up intil two or three days before
Christmas. In some families not until the day before. Now the trees are sold
out by dec 15th...

Cheers, Michiel

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